REAL ESTATE

The days of homes being sold in just days are gone. They are now remmaining on the market for weeks, months, and even longer. - File Photo

PORTSMOUTH — There were 105 single-family homes for sale in Portsmouth. Four were sale pending. There were another 60 in Rye and only one was sale pending. Add another 92 in Exeter with six sales pending and 159 in Dover with eight pending sale and you have a good look at today’s residential real estate market. The Northern New England Real Estate Network’s Multiple Listing Service listed 416 single-families homes for sale in the aforementioned towns on April 25. Nineteen were sale pending. The days of Realtors selling a home in a matter of days are gone. Homes are sitting for weeks, months and even longer.

However, Realtors are fast adapting, using old tricks such as open houses and broker open houses to new tricks such as virtual home tours via the Internet. They are also focused on educating buyers and sellers on the dynamics of today’s market. April was “Open House Month” for the national Coldwell Banker outfit and Seacoast affliliates are taking advantage of its national marketing campaign.

“We’ve always done open houses,” said Kathy Walsh of Coldwell Banker Walsh Real Estate of Stratham. “But there probably wasn’t a need for them two years ago.” Sellers may long for days when they had multiple offers at full price or in excess before an open house could be held. Open houses can be invasive and disruptive. Most are on weekends and attract tens of people each day.

“But open houses have always worked very well because people are so busy,” Walsh said. Busy buyers are also using the Internet where 360-degree virtual tours featuring words and music are fast replacing still photographs.

“We have to market properties more than we have in the past,” Walsh said. “Realtors.com sees a num-ber of buyers from other parts of the country. If there isn’t a virtual tour they don’t even look at the prop-erty. If you’re an agent and you have a virtual tour, your name comes up first.”

Today’s home inventory is empowering buyers.

“Buyers are more informed today than ever before,” said Leon Parker of Coldwell Banker RB/Portsmouth. That doesn’t mean buyers are in a rush. They’re wading through hundreds of Seacoast listings and many are making offers 10 to 20 percent less than asking price, which may in part explain the lack of pending sales.

“Before I could go out with a buyer and look at five to seven properties and know what they wanted to buy,” said Parker, who has worked for Coldwell Banker for four years. “I have shown one buyer 30-plus properties.” Buyers seeing a slowdown are taking advantage of it, Parker said.

Realtors are not ready to say the market has shifted from sellers to buyers, instead they say it’s a normal market. Economists define a balanced market as one with more than six months of inventory but less than nine months. John Rice, vice president of the Seacoast Board of Realtors, said sale prices are still appreciating, admit-tedly at a slower rate.

“Houses are not flying off the shelves, but they are selling and they are appreciating,” Rice said. “It’s hard to believe, but true.” Lack of sales in the normally busy spring could shift the market from normal to one controlled by buyers.

“In a lot of ways it’s a great stare down,” Rice said. “No one seems to have made any progress. No one is really establishing a buyer’s or seller’s market. Maybe it is about to happen.” Open houses and broker gatherings where they share information on listings are part of a return to basics that comes with a competitive market. Personal relationships with sellers and buyers are increasingly important as properties sit on the market.

“You see prices adjusted, which is a euphemism for price reduced,” Rice said. Honest communication is key with an emphasis on personal service.

“The broker has to educate the seller on the market,” Rice said. It’s not just his or her property that may be experiencing stress, it’s a trend.”

Aside from virtual tours and balloon-filled open houses, brokers say their most powerful tool is advice.

“I would tell any seller today to be very careful about pricing your home,” Parker said. “If you overprice it in this market it will sit, even in Portsmouth.”

Mark Nason, owner of Nason and Co. of Portsmouth, agrees, saying many sales today come down to “the price, the price, the price.” “You sell the sizzle, not the steak,” Nason said. “You can dress it up and give your listing maximum exposure, but it comes down to a market where buyers have more choices. When buyers have more choices they look for bargains.” A house’s condition is increasingly important.

“If your property is in ‘A1’ condition and priced right to the market or a little below, it’s going to sell in two weeks, six weeks,” Rice said. “There are buyers out there, but they are very choosy. If your property is not up to snuff — kitchens not redone in 10, 20 years — buyers do not want to do that work.”

Rice recently sold a house after just four days on the market. It was priced right and immaculate, he said.

Realtors are educating themselves about financing options, particularly for first-time buyers as migration to the area slows and rising interest rates cut the number of people upgrading homes. Portsmouth’s HomeTown first-time homebuyer’s program and those of the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority drew praise. Walsh said NHHFA programs were not used in the Seacoast in past years as much as in Strafford County, due to the relatively staggering cost of Seacoast homes. That could change if prices fall.

“(NHHFA) income limits were just increased again for Rockingham County and it’s high enough that there are some real opportunities for people,” Walsh said. “Agents are going to have to become a little more educated about financing programs and not just rely on mortgage companies.”